1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vibrating sluice boxes, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved vibrating sluice box for use in separating gold particles from a mixture of water, sand and sediment. Small particles of gold have been eroded by weather and glacial action from gold bearing deposits in various areas of the world. Over time, these gold particles are washed along streams and rivers. Due to the relatively large density of gold, these particles tend to settle and accumulate in the sand and sediment in stream and river beds. The present invention provides an improved device for economically separating such valuable gold particles from the sand and sediment of river and stream beds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of vibrating mining devices are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a vibrating mining device is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,318, which issued to J. Morris on June 11, 1957. This patent discloses a vibratory conveyor for conveying pulverized fluidized particulate material. A motor driven pitman wheel and eccentrically attached pitman arm are utilized to reciprocate the conveyor bed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,576, which issued to R. Evans et al on Oct. 16, 1962, discloses a vibrating conveyor which utilizes a belt and pulley driven eccentric mechanism in conjunction with an electric motor to reciprocate a spring mounted conveyor bed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,133,628, which issued to W. Butler et al on May 19, 1964, discloses a vibrating shaker trough constructed from telescopically overlapping trough sections to accommodate expansion and retraction of the trough. U.S. Pat. No. 3,173,768, which issued to J. Witte on Mar. 16, 1965, discloses a vibratory device for treating granulated material. A granulated material, such as sugar, to be cooled or dried is supported on a thin perforated flexible sheet material mounted within a vibrated fluid chamber. Heated air is ducted beneath the flexible perforated strip. U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,848, which issued to C. Hughes on Feb. 13, 1968, discloses a mining machine having a shaking conveyor. A screw cutting head for use in mining coal has an attached adjustable pivotal vibrating conveyor. A fluid motor in conjunction with a pivotal linkage is utilized to oscillate the conveyor.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices provides a vibrating sluice box which utilizes a first variable speed motor having an output shaft with an eccentric weight and a cooling fan and a second variable speed motor which drives a reciprocating pitman arm through a rotary pitman wheel Additionally, none of the aforesaid devices provides a sluice box which is suspended for side to side reciprocation within an open box frame having a pair of pivotally mounted striking arms positioned on opposite sides of the trough. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of vibrating sluice boxes, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such vibrating sluice boxes, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.